These snippets of code tell Google (and us) a few things about the page:

1. Description – This is one of the most important sections of the meta code. It appears in your SERP listing to give searchers more information about what your page is about and why they should click on it.

2. Title – This is another very important meta tag. The title displays together with the description in your SERP listing, like this:

It also shows up at the top of the browser window when searchers visit your page:

3. Type – This tag explains the content type of the page. In this example, you can see that it’s an “article.” This meta tag plays a small role but I consider it to be less significant because it’s aimed at search engines alone.

4. URL – This tag is another minor one for search engines only. It tells them the URL of the page (pretty self-explanatory).

In practice, different parts of the meta code are there for different audiences.

Some parts are aimed directly at search engines—for example, the canonical tag, which is helpful if your content is republished or distributed to multiple places, or the locale tag to customize the search experience based on the users’ location.

The other parts of the meta code are aimed at both human users and search engines. Taking advantage of these parts can help persuade searchers to click on your result in the SERPs, as well as have a better experience on your site.

SEO Meta Tags: Do’s and Don’ts to Get More Clicks and Traffic

Now, how do you optimize your meta tags to attract more clicks and bring in high-quality traffic?

Here’s your checklist of do’s and don’ts.

Do: Include Meta Tags for Every Page

As you build a more extensive website, you never know which page will become a sudden hit in the search engines. That’s why I recommend including optimized meta tags for every page on your site that has the potential to rank.

For WordPress sites, the Yoast SEO plugin is an excellent way to make sure this happens. It allows you to fill in a unique meta description and title for every post, as well as optimize the URL (slug):

Do: Use the Right Keywords in Your Meta Tags

That means writing naturally rather than awkwardly trying to use keywords multiple times. You should only use one keyword per title, and no more than one or two in a meta description.

For pages on your site that aren’t targeting a specific keyword, it’s still a good idea to optimize the meta tags for other popular keywords that people use when they talk about you or link to your site (also known as “anchor text” keywords).

The quickest and easiest way to discover these words and phrases is with Monitor Backlinks.

Don’t: Exceed Google’s Restrictions

Specifically, you want to keep meta titles to 55-60 characters and meta descriptions to 150-160 characters. If you exceed this length, Google may cut off your copy mid-sentence, which means you’re likely to confuse the user or turn them away, and less likely to earn the click.

If you’re using the Yoast SEO plugin, you can preview the meta title and description as you write. You can also use SEOmofo’s snippet optimization tool to get a similar preview, or Letter Count to find out how many characters are in a bit of text.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Submitting Your Site to Search Engines Submitting your site to search engines is still important for SEO success. Mainly because it offers you benefits you can’t get anywhere else. Benefits like: 1. Making sure search engines index your site, 2. Letting search engines know exactly what’s important on your site, and 3. Using search engine-specific tools...